Guess what? It’s winter and there are still a lot of people at the Grand Canyon. And after a long day at the canyon a lot of these folks get hungry. Almost all, in fact. There are not that many places to eat and you won’t have the luxury of flitting from spot to spot checking menus to decide where to dine. Before you just hop on the end of a long line to eat you may want to know what is in store when you get a table in the park…

Mather Point Cafe (next door to the Visitor Center at 10 South Entrance Road)

Winter Hours: December-March, 7:00 am – 7:00 pm

Specializes in healthy options from local sustainable suppliers. Fare includes gourmet sandwiches, wraps, burritos, soups and salads with a full line of on-the-go eats. Especially proud of its FireCreek Coffee Company brews.

You can see the North Rim from this dining room. Serves casual Southwestern fare from buffalo burgers to hand-cut steaks. Beer, wine and cocktails are available. No reservations accepted and the line starts forming at least a half-hour ahead of opening.

Family favorites served up in the classic style of the Harvey House, the original Grand Canyon concessionaire. Casual attire and first come, first served inside the mosaic-lined dining room. For the two weeks around Christmas and New Year’s the Bright Angel Fountain out front will serve popular to-go food if the weather is agreeable.

Enjoy fine dining Grand Canyon style – this is the top-of-the-line eatery in the park. Reservations are a must – taken 30 days in advance and up to six months ahead for lodge guests. Southwestern fare in a lodge setting that pays tribute to the four Native American tribes whose cultures intersect with the canyon. Note: renovations are taking place at the El Tovar dining room through April of 2017.

After descending down the Bright Angel Trail (9.6 miles) or the Kaibib Trail (7.8 miles) on foot or on the back of a mule a meal is waiting at the Phantom Ranch on the canyon floor. Reservations are required and do not be late for your seating. Grub includes steak dinner, hiker’s stew or vegetarian chili dinner.

Maswik Food Court (Maswik Lodge on the South Rim)

Winter Hours: 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Family-friendly fuel with four feeding stations of familiar dishes. Casual seating or lunches prepared in “to go” containers for Grand Canyon explorers. The Pizza Pub is open an hour later and offers a sports bar atmosphere, including beer.

Canyon Village Deli (Canyon Village Market)

Winter Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

There are tables to relax and enjoy a deli sandwich or a salad or you can get trail food to go. The market has fresh vegetables and cheeses as well. If the weather is warm enough to set up Village Dogs out front you can sample a Straight Shooter Dog or the Grand Canyon Dog which is a tube steak smothered with grilled onions, bacon, pinto beans, Fresno onions, tomato, mayonnaise, and jalapeno salsa.

To help ease the overflow of holiday visitors this cafeteria roars to life for all three meals. You can get your burgers and pizza pies and also stick-to-your-ribs favorites like pot pies and fried chicken. No reservations needed. Casual all the way.

The term “magical” gets tossed around all too freely by outdoors enthusiasts but describing hiking at the Grand Canyon in winter is not one of those occasions. There is nothing quite like a dusting of newly fallen snow to make six million year old rock formations look fresh and alive.

Winter hiking options at the Grand Canyon

There are two types of day hiking in the winter at the Grand Canyon – on the rim (the South Rim, the North Rim is closed) and below the rim. The rim trail is mostly level and paved for most of its 13-mile jaunt from the South Kaibib Trailhead to Hermits Rest. Hiking along the canyon rim is often more pleasurable in winter than summer since you trade the oppressive summer heat for brisk, invigorating temperatures. The crowds are also thinner and photographers can take advantage of the captivating lower angle of the sun. Keep an eye out for ice patches that may exist on the macadam under pinion pines that shade the trail in places. And be certain to carry water as there are only water stops (pure Grand Canyon spring water!) in the Grand Canyon Village and at the western terminus in Hermits Rest.

At some point everyone wants to hike at least a little ways down into the Grand Canyon. In the winter this becomes problematic from the first step. While the below-the-rim trails remain open in the winter, the steep footpaths can be completely icy at the top, especially early in the morning before the sun illuminates the inside of the canyon. While no one wants to ever fall on the ice, doing so on the edge of a cliff is especially undesirable.

The solution is over-the-shoe traction devices. The Canyon Village Market and General Store rents and sells buckle-on crampons. Another popular option, especially if a great deal of winter hiking is in your future, are Yaktrax cleats that stretch steel coils across the entire surface of your shoe or boot. Combined with a trekking pole the stability and confidence these tools will provide will make Grand Canyon winter hiking downright fun.

Into the backcountry

Hiking deep into the canyon, with its elevation changes of many thousands of feet, always requires extra planning. In the winter this means caution with clothing to prevent hypothermia. If you hike any distance into the Grand Canyon you will end up sweating on even the coldest days – and while drenched clothing is an ally in summer, it is a potential killer in winter. Cotton fibers will not dry once quickly once they become wet so you need synthetic fibers that do not absorb water and are designed to wick away accumulated moisture on your skin.

Backcountry winter hiking in the Grand Canyon is a highly anticipated experience for many trail tramps. The National Park Service stands ready to assist in the adventure with tips and information on trail conditions. Always check in with the ranger station before setting out on a long hike in this true winter wonderland.

“Where’s the Colorado River?” That is a common question you’ll hear around Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim. Like a publicity-shy artist, the creator of the most wondrous sight in America remains hidden from those who look down from above.

The Colorado River makes its first appearance to most visitors at Hopi Point, west of Grand Canyon Village and located along the eight-mile Hermit Road. For nine months out of the year Hermit Road is closed to private vehicles and the only way to get to those views of the river are to hike out there for many miles on the Rim Trail, on bicycle (a dicey way to get around the congested Village) or by free park-provided shuttle buses. While the shuttle buses relieve you of the hassle of driving they do lock you into the park’s schedule and not yours – if there is room to board on the next shuttle at all. You will be visiting any of the nine overlooks along Hermit Road with a busload of others.

The gate to Hermit Road goes down in the winter

One of the perks of visiting the Grand Canyon in the winter is the ability to take your vehicle on Hermit Road from November 1 until February 28 – and the driving is easy. The road was constructed back in the Great Depression of the 1930s as a Works Project Administration project. While wonderfully rustic and scenic along the edge of the canyon the roadway was eventually inadequate for modern transportation. That was solved with a complete overhaul in 2008 that widened the road to a full 24 feet with new resurfacing.

Highlights among those nine overlooks – which are popular sunset viewing spots – include Powell Point and Hermits Rest near the end of the road. Powell Point boasts a stone memorial to the one-armed Civil War veteran Major John Powell who made the first exploration of the Grand Canyon down the Colorado River in 1869. Hermits Rest is a gift shop and tourist services facility but architect Mary Colter crafted it in 1914 to resemble a dilapidated stone miner’s cabin complete with a massive fireplace and a front porch overlooking the canyon. At Maricopa Point are the ruins of the Orphan Lode Mine where copper and uranium were pulled from the Grand Canyon until 1967.

What does the Colorado River look like from the rim?

And about that Colorado River? Don’t expect to see an entire ribbon of water coursing through the bottom of the mile-deep canyon. At Pimi Point, where you can actually hear the rush of water echoing from the Granite Rapid on a quiet winter day, the river resembles a rectangular lake. At Monument Creek Vista you can begin to see points where the tributary slices down to join the Colorado River.

Winter travelers should note that the Hermit Road can close on short notice, especially at night when snow that has melted during the day refreezes to form black ice. Also keep an eye out for deer and other animals on the roadway – but you won’t be in a hurry driving along the spectacular Hermit Road anyway.

When you make your living providing tours at a place that resides at the top of millions of people’s “bucket lists” you do business with a unique responsibility. Grand Canyon tour operators realize this. They want you to ask questions so you can put down your reservation deposit on your “trip of a lifetime” with confidence. So what should those questions be?

1. How long have you been in business?

No tour operator would ever be so bold as to think they “have seen it all.” But the more tours given the less likely they are to be befuddled by unexpected gremlins that crop up during a tour.

2. What types of tours do you specialize in?

There are many ways to experience the Grand Canyon – on raft, on mule, on foot, by air. Once you familiarize yourself with the options and decide the best trip for you, you can narrow the range of appropriate operators to cast your lot with.

3. What is the group size on tour?

Tours with a low client-to-guide ratio foster a more personal experience and smaller tour groups offer more itinerary flexibility should a unique opportunity present itself to go off schedule. It is also a good idea to ask if the tour will be cancelled if a minimum number of participants do not sign up, and how often that happens.

4. Who normally takes these tours?

You are not being nosy – some tours are geared for families, others for seniors, some for singles, etc. You need to know that you will fit comfortably into the demographic mix of your Grand Canyon tour group. The national park is a rugged place and you also need to match a tour’s physical requirements with your level of fitness. How much fun is that Grand Canyon adventure going to be if you aren’t able to keep up with the group?

5. What kind of training is given to guides?

You can’t expect a full resume of the guide who is going to hold your dream vacation in his or her hands but you should be able to learn the extent of first aid training guides have gone through. With the many international visitors at the Grand Canyon you may want to inquire about the availability of multi-lingual guides if that is a concern.

6. Ask enough questions so there are no surprises about the nuts and bolts of any tour. These issues include:

* exactly what is included in the tour price and what expenses will be additional

* exactly what the food and lodging arrangements will be

* exactly how cancellation and refunds work

7. What is your commitment to ecotourism?

Millions of people come to see one of the planet’s greatest treasures every year, which is an overwhelming strain of resources. But responsible tour operators do what they can to minimize the impact of doing business in the Canyon – reducing waste, recycling and leaving no trace, even with large groups Ask potential tour providers what they are doing to help keep the Canyon healthy – and ask what you can do to help limit your footprint when you arrive.

8. Ask for references.

No reputable Grand Canyon Tour operator will be shy about sharing the names of past participants who have agreed to share experiences at the Canyon.

You have been dreaming about that Grand Canyon tour for years and now is not the time to be shy about making sure you get it right. And tour operators want you to ask these questions to make their job easier when you reach Arizona. If you know what to expect beforehand – and what is expected of you – everyone involved will be able to concentrate on why you’re coming – making memories that will last a lifetime.

On December 1 – or earlier if Old Man Winter has already begun snorting and hissing – a wide, metal gate swings across Arizona Route 67 as it begins it 44-mile run south from U.S. 89A at Jacob Lake and the only paved access to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is closed. While the South Rim remains open year-round the Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim rolls up the welcome mat every winter. It may be Arizona but you are in the mountains – 7,000 feet at the South Rim and a frosty 8,000 feet in elevation ten miles across the Canyon on the North Rim.

Food and lodging services at the lodge actually stop on October 15 and only a skeleton crew keeps the gift shop with a few provisions open to visitors until the closing of the gate. And that will be it for park services on the North Rim again until May 15. But it takes a little more than a metal barrier and a “Closed for the Season” sign to shut down a large chunk of a 1.2-million acre park.

Backcountry permits are still sold during the winter for those who want to walk, snowshoe or ski (no personal snowmobiles) across the Kaibab Plateau from Jacob Lake. You can also reach the North Rim in winter by hiking across the Canyon from the South Rim – a multi-day journey that requires winter camping in the National Park Service’s North Rim Campground’s group campsite.

Luxurious Winter Accommodations

There is even a dollop of civilization waiting for winter Grand Canyon visitors at the North Rim Yurt. Located just ten minutes by ski from the North Kaibib Trailhead in a non-wilderness corridor hard by a hub of administrative structures, the yurt can get downright comfy with a table and chairs huddled around a wood-burning stove. The yurt sleeps six and groups can stay as long as four nights; reservations and a nominal nightly fee are required.

Backcountry adventurers on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim can expect snow pack from January through March. Like winter elsewhere it is always possible to catch a temperate winter day with sunshine and 50-degree temperatures at the Grand Canyon – but you can also count on it being COLD at night, every night.

Looks Awesome from Above As Well

The splendors of the North Rim are also accentuated in winter from the air; light plane and helicopter tours operate from Grand Canyon Airport in Tusayan, Arizona throughout the year. The scenic excursions range from half an hour to several hours in duration, flying over the world’s largest Ponderosa pines on the Kaibib Plateau, dressed in their sharpest winter finery. Landmarks include Point Imperial, at 8,803 feet the highest point on the North Rim, and the Dragon Corridor, where the Grand Canyon yawns its widest and deepest. Papillon’s North Canyon Tour is a best bet to see the North Rim.

In the summer the isolated North Rim offers a respite from the tour buses and hustle and bustle of the Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim. When the temperatures drop and the park service packs up and leaves, hardy visitors to the Kaibab Plateau bask in even more intense solitude in a true winter wonderland.